LABOUR law is in a fix. The problems for the
continued vitality of labour law courses are
manifest. Diminishing student numbers, a
reputation for being an overweight course due to
excessive materials, and a reputation for supporting
a socialist dogma which has little resonance for the
young, are, together, the recipe for either abandonment or dismemberment. Like personal property or
bailment, labour law seems threatened with extinction as part of the undergraduate syllabus. At the
same time, however, I would argue that, despite the
poor prognosis for the courses, the commitment of
teachers, the sophistication of the legal and empirical analyses, and the breadth of studies has never
been greater. We therefore find in schools of law a
strange dissonance between a group of teachers and
researchers who are motivated by a strong sense of
vocation to promote the study of labour law, and, on
the other side, diminishing classes, indifference, and
even repugnance from the student body.

Does this matter? What is to be done?

1. Three Organising Themes

The field of legal studies known today as labour law
has, I suggest, been defined by three competing
themes. These themes express a purpose to the collection and analysis of the legal materials. The purpose simultaneously explains the scope of the field
of study and justifies its unity as an object of analysis
and evaluation. At different times one of these
themes has predominated, but then in due course it
has been supplanted by another. I shall argue that
the undergraduate syllabus should ensure that all
three themes are present, for the exclusion of one or
more diminishes the worth of the subject. But I shall
also suggest that the three themes can be included
under a novel organizational framework which at
once highlights the diversity of themes and binds
them together into a meaningful totality.

The first theme concerns the subordination of the
worker in the employment relation. Whatever the
explanation for this subordination, and this explanation it must be said remains controversial, few doubt
the existence of subordination. It reveals itself in the
language of work: 'boss', 'governor', 'head office',
'superiors'. What has united many conceptions of
labour law, particularly those following Kahn-
Freund,1 and supplied the motivation and cutting
edge for its study, has been the sense that this element of subordination is unjust, and that the law
should endeavour to combat it. The sense of injustice
may stem from a variety of sources, but at its simplest it may be said that there is a perceived tension
or even contradiction between the hierarchies of the
workplace and the commitment of liberal societies to
equality and liberty for all citizens. To resolve this
tension, if not to eradicate it altogether, is the
imputed purpose of labour law. Through legal regulation and other mechanisms, it is believed that
labour law can resist or soften the presence of domination in the workplace.

The second theme which has guided labour law is
the belief that its fundamental purpose lies in regulation of the labour market. The purpose of this regulation will be to enhance the efficiency of the market
and to remedy market failures. Efficiency may be
enhanced, for example, by active manpower policies
operated by government which are designed to
retrain and relocate workers so that the most productive labour force is readily available to employers.
Government intervention might also seek to stimulate demand for labour through industrial and investment policies. The regulation of market failures aims
to facilitate contracting by reducing transaction
costs, as for example by the use of standard implied
terms in contracts of employment, and to ensure that
externalities such as the social costs of redundancies
are properly included in the cost calculations of
businesses. This theme of market regulation tended
to predominate when the subject was called Industrial Law,2 and has recently again risen to prominence as an organising theme of labour law due to
the work of Davies and Freedland.3

The third theme moves from the economic sphere
to the political. It regards a crucial dimension of

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